Google will give “good apps” a better ranking in its Play Store

Google has enhanced its search and discovery algorithms to reflect app quality in its Google Play Store.

The company said that people enjoy apps which meet their performance and quality expectations. Excessive battery usage, slow render times, and crashes can be a source of frustration.

“In an internal analysis of app reviews on Google Play, we noticed that half of 1-star reviews mentioned app stability,” said Google.

Developers who focus on app quality can see improvements in their rating, and their retention and monetization.

“We recently enhanced our search and discovery algorithms to reflect app quality,” said Google, adding that this results in higher-quality apps being surfaced in the Play Store more than similar apps of lower quality.

“The change has had a positive impact on engagement – we’ve seen that people go on to use higher-quality apps more and uninstall them less.”